Rural News Delivery: June 8, 2005

We're pleased to offer you this compilation of articles that appeared in the national media this week on the subject of rural.

The information from these weekly updates is to be used for educational purposes only. Recipients may not repurpose the contents without permission from the source. Please note that links to newspapers may require registration. Thank you!

New York Times (New York, NY), June 7, 2005In county made rich by golf, some enclaves are left behindby Shaila Dewan

Golf has made Moore County rich. There are spas, country clubs and new $2 million homes. The United States Open, to be held later this month on the most famous of the county's 43 golf courses, is expected to bring $124 million to the state. But as developers rush to provide "resort quality" amenities in the newest subdivisions, some neighborhoods have been left behind - without sewers, police service, garbage pickup or even, in some cases, piped water. Read the story.

No stranger to controversy, the maker of the board game Ghettopoly is creating a new stir with his latest Monopoly-style game, Redneckopoly. Some say the game -- with squares that feature moonshine, crystal meth and Klan rallies -- exploits offensive stereotypes about rural people. "Stereotypes in the marketplace let us write off a group of people," Tim Marema, vice president of the Center for Rural Strategies. "You don't have to consider their humanity. In the end, we're all weaker for it." Read the story.

Safe, clean and friendly - rural communities are supposed to represent the best of America. But for people living with disabilities in rural Utah, life is anything but idyllic. A team of surveyors from the Disability Law Center, who recently studied 278 disabled citizens in 26 Utah counties, found conditions were worse than expected. "We talk a good game about love and compassion," said the Center's director, Fraser Nelson. "These people are living lives that are really quite shocking." Read the story.

When state police raided an elaborate cockfighting operation in Montgomery County, Kentucky, on April 16 and cited more than 500 people for animal cruelty, it brought new attention to an old sport -- one with deep cultural roots in rural America and around the world. Today, 48 states have outlawed cockfighting, including Kentucky. An official with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals calls the activity "ancient Rome with rifle racks and beer," describing supporters of the sport as "cruel and heartless." But many cockfighters think the personal criticism is unfair. "Compared to people in government, chicken fighters are a better class of people," says Wayne Elkins, who breeds gamefowl. "This bunch tells you something, you can count on it." Read the story.

Small communities often have a hard time attracting nurses to staff hospitals, and the accelerating medical needs of aging baby boomers aggravate the shortage, but a nursing program at the Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University hopes is training rural residents at home to become nurses. Eighteen nursing students are enrolled in the three-year Rural Frontier Delivery Program, and thirty-two are scheduled to be enrolled in the fall. Unofficially, it's known as a "grow your own" program because students train in the same communities where they will work, said clinical instructor Erin. Read the story.

Institute for Rural Journalism

For more rural news, visit the web log of the the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.

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